ArchOwl
The Highly Educated Owl
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
Overall: DCA was downright pleasant to be in. Fountains and Fireworks show was awesome, even though it was foggy that night. Highly recommend skipping DL, which was super duper crowded (campers in the Hub in the morning!) and heading right for DCA to get a FP for the midnight WOC.
Crowds: DL was crazy crowded and there were insane wait times. We didn't even attempt to go past the Hub that day.
DCA was nice, like a summer day during midweek. Consistent wait times in the 30-40 minute range with FPs available until late afternoon, early evening.
Parking: not an issue at all. Waltzed in and out of M&F several times. First entry was at 11am on 12/31 and there was absolutely no line to get in. Hopped on first available tram. Re-entered parks at 6pm, again no line to enter structure. I know lots of people like Toy Story lot, but I was once stuck on a bus at the drop off point for 15 minutes. Never again!
Festivities: Here again I think DCA wins! They had party favors available late in the evening with live jazz in the Garden Grill area. They also had Electronica that was in full swing all night. Only downside was low availability of champagne, c'mon Disney! We had to hunt to find some. And it was easy to go from Electronica to the WOC area. No fighting massive crowds.
WOC FPs for the midnight show were available starting at opening. They had a few machines for the 8pm showing and a few for midnight. Once 8pm ran out, they switched to the 9:15pm show and were still distributing for the midnight show. However, they did run out of the midnight show sometime in the late evening.
They didn't not form a queue for the midnight WOC show. They opened up Paradise Park at about 10:15pm and it was first come, first served. There was no pre-entertainment, which I thought was strange. No DJs, no nothing. There was an emcee about 10 minutes before midnight who led us through the countdown, but to this day have no idea who he was. You couldn't see the countdown clock projection because of the thick fog. Many of the fireworks were obscured as well, but it was still fun. The fountains were coordinated to the fireworks and it was a well done show. It lasted about 5 minutes and then there was a pause of 10 minutes before WOC.
Here is a picture of the crazy fog:
Here is a picture I took later that day when we hopped over to DL a little after 1am. The castle was lit beautifully, it really took your breath away!
Closures: As far as I saw that day, DL was closed temporarily in the afternoon to new entries only. DCA never was closed and we didn't wait in line at all to enter DCA. The line to enter DL at around 7pm was almost to the entry gates of DCA! They had tons of CMs maintaining lines that far back. Absolutely nuts.
So if anyone is thinking they would like to ring in the New Year at the DLR, I strongly advise you to skip DL and head to DCA. It is downright nice over there and you will get a great show and have more options of what you want to do. Don't be afraid of all the reports of DL shutting down and the crazy crowds. DCA is quite doable and fun! It was awesome to be there for New Year's and celebrating with everyone. The CMs were great and welcomed us as the first guests of 2012. I don't think I will do it every year, but it was fun to do and something we will always remember.
Crowds: DL was crazy crowded and there were insane wait times. We didn't even attempt to go past the Hub that day.
DCA was nice, like a summer day during midweek. Consistent wait times in the 30-40 minute range with FPs available until late afternoon, early evening.
Parking: not an issue at all. Waltzed in and out of M&F several times. First entry was at 11am on 12/31 and there was absolutely no line to get in. Hopped on first available tram. Re-entered parks at 6pm, again no line to enter structure. I know lots of people like Toy Story lot, but I was once stuck on a bus at the drop off point for 15 minutes. Never again!
Festivities: Here again I think DCA wins! They had party favors available late in the evening with live jazz in the Garden Grill area. They also had Electronica that was in full swing all night. Only downside was low availability of champagne, c'mon Disney! We had to hunt to find some. And it was easy to go from Electronica to the WOC area. No fighting massive crowds.
WOC FPs for the midnight show were available starting at opening. They had a few machines for the 8pm showing and a few for midnight. Once 8pm ran out, they switched to the 9:15pm show and were still distributing for the midnight show. However, they did run out of the midnight show sometime in the late evening.
They didn't not form a queue for the midnight WOC show. They opened up Paradise Park at about 10:15pm and it was first come, first served. There was no pre-entertainment, which I thought was strange. No DJs, no nothing. There was an emcee about 10 minutes before midnight who led us through the countdown, but to this day have no idea who he was. You couldn't see the countdown clock projection because of the thick fog. Many of the fireworks were obscured as well, but it was still fun. The fountains were coordinated to the fireworks and it was a well done show. It lasted about 5 minutes and then there was a pause of 10 minutes before WOC.
Here is a picture of the crazy fog:
Here is a picture I took later that day when we hopped over to DL a little after 1am. The castle was lit beautifully, it really took your breath away!
Closures: As far as I saw that day, DL was closed temporarily in the afternoon to new entries only. DCA never was closed and we didn't wait in line at all to enter DCA. The line to enter DL at around 7pm was almost to the entry gates of DCA! They had tons of CMs maintaining lines that far back. Absolutely nuts.
So if anyone is thinking they would like to ring in the New Year at the DLR, I strongly advise you to skip DL and head to DCA. It is downright nice over there and you will get a great show and have more options of what you want to do. Don't be afraid of all the reports of DL shutting down and the crazy crowds. DCA is quite doable and fun! It was awesome to be there for New Year's and celebrating with everyone. The CMs were great and welcomed us as the first guests of 2012. I don't think I will do it every year, but it was fun to do and something we will always remember.
That way we can all enjoy it for years to come. 
.
